On Saturday Always Dreaming became the ninth Kentucky Derby post-time favorite to wear the blanket of roses and, remarkably, the fifth in a row. All eight of those Derby-winning favorites were the post-time favorite when they ran in the Preakness.

But they weren’t just favorites. They were favorites — as in, overwhelming, almost uniformly odds-on, favorites.

The octet — Fusaichi Pegasus (2000), Smarty Jones (2004), Street Sense (2007), Big Brown (2008), Orb (2013), California Chrome (2014), American Pharoah (2015), and Nyquist (2016) — were roughly 7-2, on average, in the Derby. Their odds ranged from a low of 2.30-1 (Fusaichi Pegasus and Nyquist) to a high of 5.40-1 for Orb.

But bettors must have loved what they’d seen on the first Saturday in May, because by the time the gates opened at Pimlico on the third Saturday of the month, those same horses had been bet all the way down to a little more than 3-5 (.66-1). Seven of the eight were odds-on, the lone exception being Street Sense, who had to deal with both the Derby place and show horses in the form of Hard Spun and eventual Preakness winner Curlin. Street Sense — who also was widely perceived to have benefited immensely from Calvin Borel’s “Bo-rail” ride — went off at 1.30-1 in the Preakness.

Big Brown had the shortest Preakness odds among this group, going off at 1-5.

Always Dreaming was a fairly tepid Derby favorite, going off at 4.70-1 — the longest-priced Derby favorite since Orb was 5.40-1 in 2013. But even if we restrict ourselves to longer-priced Derby chalk, the picture doesn’t change much. Always Dreaming’s three predecessors who went off at more than 4-1 in their Derby triumphs were, on average, 9-10 come post time in the Middle Jewel.

Interestingly, though, these hot Preakness favorites haven’t been a great bet. Four of the eight met defeat in the Preakness, among them Fusaichi Pegasus at 3-10 and, more recently, Nyquist at 7-10. Notably, three of the four who lost were closers who were 13th or worse after a half-mile in Kentucky but benefited from hot paces in front of them — hot paces that did not materialize quite as well in the Preakness.

What’s it all mean?

Well, for one thing, it probably means that Always Dreaming will likely be less than even-money when the gates open on May 20. If he is, he’ll be the fifth consecutive Preakness favorite to be odds-on, Bodemeister (8-5) in 2012 having been the last Preakness favorite above even odds. He’s likely to end up somewhere between 2-5 and 9-10 when all is said and done.

About The Author

Frank Vespe, the founder and publisher of The Racing Biz, has owned, bought, sold, claimed, written, and talked about horses, in varying combinations, for a decade. Email him at [email protected] or follow him on twitter @TheRacingBiz.

1 Comment

bill
on May 9, 2017 at 10:41 am

3-5 and yes, he will win. But not the Belmont! Sprint pedigree will catch up to him.But then again, we all know opinions are like a_ _holes, everyone has one.